Learning to Speak
by Sparkletwinkle
Summary: GLaDOS ponders about giving a mute girl a voice. But will her idea bring back memories of the past? Short chaptered story, no pairings.
1. A idea

**Learning to Speak**

This is my first fanfic! I came up with the idea whilst playing Portal 1; it is set during the events of that game. No pairings, so don't worry!

GLaDOS watched the test subject as she made her way through Chamber 16. She wore a look of concentration and determination on her face- something you would need when navigating through a chamber filled with deadly turrets. GLaDOS chuckled as she noticed that the test subject jumped away from the turret she had just knocked down the stairs. It faded away with a final "I don't hate you".

Suddenly, she had a bright idea. The test subject had suffered damage to her vocal cords leaving her mute. Whilst this was good (Or at least to the AI because she didn't have to put up with human whining- in her opinion, a very bad human trait), it was slightly unnerving that she never made any sort of sound, not even cries of pain when hurt.

The turrets can speak. Perhaps there's some way to transfer the speech processor into the human...no, it would never work. Besides, with only her currently running the facility, and little to no funding resulting from Aperture's many failed experiments in the past and CERTAIN OTHER SCIENCE COMPANIES, there would be no way they could pull this off, let alone successfully.

Anyway, why this test subject? Why would she waste her time on THIS particular one? GLaDOS sighed. She wasn't smarter or more athletic than anyone else. All she really had was her abnormal stubbornness and that wasn't exactly a trait to be proud of. Still, she was more resilient than any other test subject; she never gave up, even in the "impossible" test. But what benefit would giving this mute girl a voice have?

Frowning, GLaDOS turned her attention to a lab where robots were busy on construction of some new testing elements. Suddenly, she had a brainwave. She may not have human scientists anymore, but she had an army of robots on her side. Whilst thinking about this, GLaDOS felt a wave of panic rush over her as she remembered.


	2. Second thoughts

GLaDOS remembered. She remembered the panic, the fear, the pain of electricity running through her and just for a second she felt pure fear at the idea of inflicting that type of pain on Chell. "Nonsense", she told herself. "This...isn't the same. Putting a robot's speech processor inside a human body can't be as painful as putting a human mind into a computer, can it?" For all GLaDOS wanted to kill the woman, it felt a little extreme, a little over the top just for the sake of science.

GLaDOS spotted the test subject leaving the elevator towards chamber 17, where she would receive a Companion Cube. Aha. Research had shown that this heart printed cube often made test subjects feel more relaxed and cheerful, almost as if they had a dear friend accompanying them throughout the tests instead of an inanimate object. Shame they had to incinerate it at the end, really. The Companion Cubes were very sweet, always willing to jump into an incinerator so their best friend could progress.

The AI took a metaphorical deep breath in and took a freshly made turret from the production line, taking care to ensure it was in proper working order. Wait a minute. GLaDOS didn't want Chell to talk in a creepy high pitched voice like a turret did. They also only had a few set phrases- that would need work as well. Frowning, GLaDOS placed the turret back into a test chamber and accessed the turret voice processor program. From here she could adjust how they spoke and their vocabulary. A generic American accent would work fine- but what about the vocabulary? Not too much, in case it overloads the processor, but not too little. Chell was always a girl of few words and to be honest it creeped out the AI.

Talking of the test subject, where was she? GLaDOS located her taking a short break by some panels in the middle of the test chamber. "Humans..." she muttered, before turning her attention back to the task in hand. She finalised the creation of the modified speech processor and ordered her bots to create a workstation for the procedure. Turning back to the test chamber, she noticed Chell bringing the Companion Cube down the hallway to the incinerator. But today she wouldn't have to go through that heartbreak.

GLaDOS turned the intercom on to address the test subject. "Today, you will not have to incinerate your faithful Companion Cube." Chell looked visibly relieved at that; she had become very attached to it. "Instead, you will proceed to the elevator straight away. The emancipation grid has been turned off so that you may transport the Companion Cube through." Chell looked suspicious at this, but entered the lift, clutching her cube tightly on the end of her portal gun. What did GLaDOS have in store?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Hope you're enjoying this story ^-^ This is quite fun to write too! The next chapter will probably be the last one and hopefully longer, too!


End file.
